Exclusive interview with Zoe Saldana

We talk to the actress about fame, fighting and being a Guardian of the Galaxy

Avatar, Pirates of the Caribbean, Star Trek: Zoe Saldana’s CV features plenty of big blockbuster projects – the likes of which don’t exactly afford its actors anonymity.
“You have to take it for what it is,” she tells me when we meet at the Corinthia Hotel in London. “There are places where I can go and just blend in with the crowd, but then there are other times when one person will point you out and the rest is history – everyone wants a picture even if they don’t know who you are, or they think you’re Thandie Newton. It happens!” She laughs. “I’m also not going to expect people to know who I am, or assume that someone recognises me when no one’s really even looking at me.”

Captivatingly beautiful, all cheekbones, perfect skin and deep brown eyes (her mother is Puerto Rican, her father from the Dominican Republic), it’s hard to believe that she’d ever go unnoticed. The 36-year-old is in town as part of a worldwide publicity tour for Marvel’s latest offering, Guardians of the Galaxy, in which she plays the otherworldly assassin Gamora – a role which involved some serious martial arts-style fight scenes and being entirely covered in green body paint.

“It comes with the territory,” she explains. “If I was going to be in a film like this, I wanted to make sure she was a Guardian, not just a girlfriend or a love interest. Even though I wasn’t really in the mood for going back to the gym and having to learn fighting sequences – because, you know, I’ve gotten tired! Over the last seven years I’ve been in and out of training and doing all these action movies – which is great, but it takes its toll on you after a while; but I decided to pay that price, and it was so rewarding at the end of every day. Even if every morning I was bitching and moaning!”

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The Guardians of the Galaxy crew at the London photocall: James Gunn, Zoe Saldana, Chris Pratt, Karen Gillan, David Bautista. Picture: Getty Images

Having flown in from San Francisco only to go straight to the London premiere in Leicester Square, and then back to New York tomorrow, she sits with her feet up and apologises profusely for seeming tired. Of course, it’s to be expected: as we know, she’s pregnant with her first child (or children; according to some, it’s twins); but that’s a private mater that is strictly off limits today. So, all things considered, how does she feel about having to jet around the world?

“I love it, I really do,” she says earnestly. “I mean, I don’t like waking up super early in the morning anymore, but other than that, it’s wonderful. If you overthink it too much, about the amount of work or publicity that you have to do, then you psyche yourself out and you don’t appreciate what a beautiful experience it really is. If you start every day thinking, ‘I’m going to get to talk about something that I’m passionate about’ – that I would still be talking about over dinner for five or six hours in a row – then great, let’s do it.”

Zoe Saldana wearing Valentino at the London premiere of Guardians of the Galaxy. Picture: Getty Images

Good news, then, that Gamora presents her with a strong, complex female character that she can’t tire of discussing. Stolen from her home planet by a god, Thanos, Gamora is forced into a life of crime and violence as an assassin, before joining a group of misfit outsiders (played by Chris Pratt, Bradley Cooper, David Bautista and Vin Diesel) who go on the run after stealing an all-powerful orb.

“Gamora was quite the challenge,” she smiles. “Her conflict is her biggest arc – the fact that she was from a planet of God-knows-what-kind-of people, taken and forced to become a person that causes pain – but at the same time, she’s also in a lot of pain and just wants to get out. She’s got a good sense of justice and a good moral compass. I look for real females [in a role], something that’s completely different from what I’ve done before, someone I can learn from and someone that I can just have a lot of fun with, or that will demand the ultimate sacrifices from me in order to create. It allows me to feel like I’m growing.” She pauses. “Wow, I’m tired, I really need a Diet Coke.”

With such a hectic schedule – and a baby (or two) on the way – how does she make time to relax?

“I watch a lot of crime shows,” she reveals. “I love them! I have a curiosity about them, because I’m always studying human behaviour. Humans are an enigma to me that I will always try to get to the bottom of.”

And with that, her Diet Coke arrives and she relaxes into her chair for the briefest of respites before the next challenge.

Zoe Saldana as Gamora in Guardians of the Galaxy. Picture: Rex Features

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